


Adjusting

by agenthaywood



Series: Someday You'll Understand [7]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And there's more, F/M, Gen, That winter finale though...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 00:51:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2753450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agenthaywood/pseuds/agenthaywood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ward adjusts to his new role at the PLAYGROUND while Skye deals with implications of their, "relationship??????" Meanwhile Coulson assembles the Team for a mission against a face that I'm surprised we haven't seen in S2 so far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adjusting

**Author's Note:**

> So first off, I want to say that the winter finale was easily the most beautiful and most painful thing I had ever seen in my life, and I've seen Marley & Me! We now know that Skye's an iteration of Daisy Johnson and I'm interested in how the writers are going to play this now. Are they going to have Skye continue to be Skye or is the character going to evolve to have more of Daisy's persona? I hope not because I really like the way Skye's a beautiful smartass, and if it switches to just beautiful I will rage.

Adjusting

 

When Lance got back to base one of the first things he wanted was a nice shower. The mission had him caked in sweat from all the running he had to do.

 

Damn Bobbi! She made him hightail it out of there before the target even got in range because someone made them in the club and security was a bitch! He had to run three miles in a suit, not his best plan.

 

\--

 

When he walked into the bathroom Lance became acutely aware of two things. One, Ward was a messy person to share a bathroom with. Two, apparently he didn’t enjoy showering alone because Lance could see the purple bra on the floor.

 

He opened the door connecting Ward’s room to the bathroom to yell at him but any protests he had got lost in his throat when he saw the sight.

 

Skye was burrowed into Ward’s chest sleeping like a log while Ward had his arms wrapped around her shoulders holding her tightly against him. Skye’s face was obscured from vision from where she had it pressed against Ward’s chest.

 

Lance nodded his head in understanding. He didn’t know Skye all that well, but he understood what she was going through, any soldier did. Killing people took its toll on you, no matter how righteous the purpose was.

 

The toll was what drove him and Bobbi together all those years ago. The attraction was there immediately but the toll was what drove them to the sheets. They wanted someone who could understand that talking wasn’t big on their mind.

 

He picked up Skye’s clothes and chucked them onto Ward’s floor. He then closed the door and left the two to sleep.

 

\--

 

When Skye’s eyes opened she became acutely aware of the blinking red numbers on the alarm clock. Her hand flailed from the bed to over the dresser until she knocked the offending clock onto the ground.

 

She was curled into Ward’s body like an infant. Her head was comfortably resting in the crook made by his bicep and chest. She yawned into Ward’s chest and a small smiled splayed on her face.

 

Skye placed a small kiss to Ward’s neck. He turned to look at her with eyes shrouded in sleep.

 

“Good morning,” He greeted with a small smile and a hoarse voice.

 

“Morning,” Skye replied with a similar expression. She kissed him softly and heard a weak groan from Ward.

 

Ward deepened the kiss and rolled them over so that he was hovering above her. Skye wrapped her arms around Ward’s neck and brought their chests flushed together.

 

A knock on the door made them break the kiss. Skye groaned and pouted at Ward. He chuckled and kissed her quickly before grabbing a pair of pants and answering the door.

 

Skye buried herself under the sheets in a mock attempt to hide herself.

 

Ward opened the door to see Coulson standing there with a file.

 

“I’m sorry is this a bad time?” Coulson asked deadpanned.

 

“No?” Ward blearily answered.

 

“Good, May wants to go over your deal. Meet me in my office in 30 minutes.” Coulson ordered as he handed over the file and walked away.

 

Ward closed the door and walked over to the dresser. He pulled out more appropriate clothes and started getting dressed. Skye pulled herself out of the covers and looked at him expectantly.

 

“He wants to go over the deal apparently.” Ward sighed as he pulled on a t-shirt.

 

“I got that much, what deal? You helped on a mission he gives you more freedom. _That_ sounds like a deal.” Skye said with her arms folded under her chest. The action wasn’t as intimidating as she’d hoped it to be once she realized that she was topless so she was just pushing her breasts into his vision.

 

Ward chuckled and picked her shirt up off the floor and threw it to her.

 

“Get dressed and get something to eat. This shouldn’t take too long.” Ward assured.

 

“You’re not the boss of me,” Skye feebly argued but her stomach growled making Ward chuckle again.

 

“Shut up,” Skye muttered as she started pulling her clothes on.

 

Ward left the file on his bed. He didn’t need it. He already had a good idea of what they would want to talk about.

 

\--

 

Ward stood outside Coulson’s office and knocked softly before hearing the muffled “come in.” He opened the door and saw May standing on one side of the desk with Coulson on the other. She had her arms crossed and shoulders tensed making Ward think that they were in a particularly heated discussion.

 

“Am I interrupting?” He asked with trepidation.

 

“No, sit down.” Coulson said simply as May turned to look at Ward. She didn’t seem happy with the current arrangement but something made her keep her opinions to herself.

 

“What’s this all about?” Ward asked finally not caring for the secretiveness.

 

“When I asked you to make an assessment I did not say sleep with her!” May growled.

 

Ward nodded and looked away for a second as he gathered his thoughts.

 

“You asked me to make an assessment and I did.” He leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees. “She’s unstable. This line of work is hurting her but she won’t say anything, not to you, Simmons, Fitz, or anybody.”

 

“Why?” Coulson asked quickly.

 

“She doesn’t want you guys to think she’s weak. She’s scared if she does that you’ll abandon her, like everyone else did.” Ward solemnly.

 

“And she told you all this?” May asked in disbelief.

 

“She didn’t have to. I know what she’s going through. More than just the toughening up that the other agents seem to understand. I know what it’s like to let people mold you, so that way they care about you. That way they don’t leave.” Ward cast his eyes downward. He had clarity on these things now but they were still tough to talk about.

 

“We weren’t asking her to-“Coulson was cut off.

 

“You didn’t have to.” Ward interrupted. “She let you in willingly. You gave her something she never had, family. And she’s not going to let it go.”

 

“Even if we’re killing her?” May asked quietly. She felt responsible. She was the one that taught her how to create the agent mask. She was the one that helped her refine her ability to conceal her emotions.

 

“I let a man hollow me out and let another fill me with what he wanted, for almost 30 years. Skye’s not going to stop after six months.” Ward explained.

 

“Do we take her off mission rotation?” Coulson asked. He didn’t know how to help her in this situation. He gave his life S.H.I.E.L.D. sure, but it was always on his own morals.

 

“No,” Ward surprised them. “You both need to stop this.” Ward gestured to them behind the desk. “Next time she gets back on a mission, do more than pat her on the back and give her the next one.”

 

“What would you suggest?” Coulson was at a loss here.

 

Ward chuckled darkly. He rubbed a hand across his face, his fingers going through the curled hairs of his beard. He took a deep breath and a sad smile grew on his face.

 

“The fact that you’re asking tells me you don’t have a damn clue how to help her.” Ward said gravely.

 

“And you do?” May asked incredulously.

 

“No, like I said I understood the problem, I never said anything about the solution. That part’s up to her.” Ward said calmly.

 

“Why is she so calm around you?” May finally asked. The first few weeks after killing Garrett Skye was furious with Ward.

 

“I guess she sees a kindred spirit, something familiar. I don’t ask her to fight, if anything I ask her to stop. Ward answered honestly.

 

“Do you have any idea on what we could do?” Ward could see the desperation eminent in Coulson’s eyes.

 

“No, I don’t.” Ward answered.

 

“That’s all, you’re dismissed.” Coulson waved him off.

 

Ward nodded and stood. He left the office and made his way back to his room. He assumed Skye left when he saw the empty bed and her clothes were missing from the floor.

 

Ward picked the clock off the floor and placed it back on the dresser. The most damage it seemed to have from Skye’s morning flailing was a scratch on the top.

 

He started making the bed. The precision military school instilled in him made itself known when he checked to make sure the sheets were tucked in neatly at the corners and the pillows were in the precise center of the bed.

 

As Ward looked at his handiwork he became aware of a presence behind him. He turned to see the guy he fought the other day.

 

“Glad to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t leave their bunk in shambles.” The guy acknowledged from the doorway.

 

“Old behavior from the Specialist days. It’s Hunter right?” Ward greeted extending his hand.

 

“Yeah, Lance Hunter.” He shook Ward’s hand before crossing his arms back across his chest. “So you’re Grant Ward, the turncoat?”

 

“Yeah,” Ward winced.

 

“How’s she doing?” Hunter dispensed with the small talk.

 

“Better than she was last week I guess.” Ward spoke tiredly. He didn’t need everyone asking him how Skye was doing. They could see for themselves.

 

\--

 

Skye was typing on her laptop. She was writing a security code for the new comm. pieces that Mack and Fitz made while she was away. It kept her busy. It kept her mind off of things. Things she’d rather not think about.

 

 

She was supposed to hate him. Everyone else did. Coulson only put up with him because it was tactical. Ward was more useful in the field. The only snag was Skye was the one who had to go with him whenever he got an assignment.

 

It wasn’t like Skye completely minded it. He gave her something she needed, release. A couple days of weightlessness that allowed her to breathe. He gave her someone who understood what she was doing to herself and unlike everyone else, she could convince him to stop talking about it.

 

Skye shook her head to get the thoughts out. She needed to think on the task at hand, that was what kept her mind clear. She rechecked the code and saw a few misplaced variables. Sloppy.

 

Tired, would’ve been a better word. The past few nights have been some of the best sleep she’d gotten in months and Skye wanted more. Ward could add “pillow” to his skillset.

 

Skye peered up above the computer after a few more minutes of working to see Ward standing in front of her with two mugs of coffee. She smiled sweetly without knowing and gestured for him to set next to her.

 

Ward gave her the hot beverage and Skye took a healthy sniff. The hot steam jarred her senses enough to clear the cobwebs that took place when she set to work an hour ago. Ward looked at the screen and saw the flowcharts and binary screens writing themselves.

 

“What’cha doing?” Ward asked.

 

“I’m writing new security software for the comm. pieces that Mack and-“Skye stopped speaking. She wasn’t supposed to tell him this stuff. She shut the laptop and put it on the coffee table before finding her mug particularly interesting.

 

Ward nodded in understanding. “Probation, not trust. I got it.” He assumed as he stood from the couch. He gave her one last glance but Skye kept her attention solely on her mug.

 

Ward walked out of the room leaving Skye alone with her thoughts. She took a sip of the coffee, French roast with a hint of cream and 8 sugars, just how she liked it when he made it for her on the BUS.

 

Skye chuckled sadly at the memory. She wasn’t supposed to fall into old habits with him. He was in a better standing with Coulson sure but he still did a lot of damage and she had forgotten that. It was just so easy to forget, to pretend that everything he did didn’t happen. It made things like last night easier. Those were things she hadn’t even been able to do when she was with Miles.

 

\--

 

Skye was finalizing the security software for the comm. when Simmons walked in the room. Skye looked up at the doorway she was standing in. The biochemist had an uncomfortable small smile on her face and Skye remembered that Simmons couldn’t have been back for more than a day or two.

 

“Hey,” Skye greeted with a small smile of her own.

 

“Hi,” Simmons spoke tensely. Something was wrong.

 

“What is it?” Skye voiced her concerns.

 

“Why is Ward walking around? Did something happen while I was gone?” She asked with bitterness lacing her tone.

 

Skye took a deep breath and contemplated her answer. She didn’t want to tell Simmons about last night or the hotel or the night in Ward’s cell so she stuck with something basic.

 

“Coulson thinks Ward’s more useful in the field than in his cell. He doesn’t trust him but it’s not like we have Specialists pouring out of the woodworks anymore.” Skye tells her with her grip on the mug tightening slightly.

 

“Do you trust him?” Simmons asked quietly.

 

“Did anything exciting happen at HYDRA?” Skye deflected.

 

“Oh, well, I uh, I found some interesting files that surprisingly weren’t leaked from the S.H.I.E.L.D. servers during the Fall.” Simmons didn’t like the deflection but she didn’t feel like she had any right to know what was going on Skye’s private life when she didn’t let Skye in hers.

 

“Research files or Index stuff?” Skye poked. A distraction was welcomed.

 

“Mostly psych evaluations on Academy students. My guess was they were trying to see which recruits would be the most susceptible to HYDRA’s version of the ‘welcome wagon.’” Simmons prattled off the details with ease. This was comfortable, an easy conversation to ignore what they didn’t want to talk about.

 

Before they could continue their conversation Skye heard May rap her knuckles against the doorway. They looked at her and waited to hear their orders.

 

“Briefing in 10,” Was all May said before walking away. Skye closed the lid on her laptop and stood from the couch. She took one last swig from her mug before placing it on the coaster.

 

\--

 

“In Seattle, Washington, an HVT is going to be making an appearance in front of a stockholder meeting for Quinn Worldwide. We need to incapacitate him and bring him back here for questioning.” Coulson spoke with authority to the agents gathered in the room.

 

Skye’s eyes fell on Ward. He was standing off to the corner with his arms crossed across his chest. The others pretended he wasn’t there but Skye couldn’t. She knew he was in the room before anyone else.

 

She glanced over at Fitz and saw him standing there with his eyes glued to the display Coulson was using as a prop. He didn’t make any protests of having Ward around and for that Skye was grateful. She didn’t want to have to pick a side anymore.

 

Mack, Hunter, and the new Agent Morse acted like nothing in the room was out of the ordinary. To them it wasn’t. Hunter and Mack were brought in after the Fall and Morse had only spoken with Coulson through neutral sights before going undercover in HYDRA. They didn’t know anything about what happened with the Team and Ward.

 

Skye focused back on the mission briefing as Coulson started assigning the various jobs.

 

“Hunter, Morse, I want you two on the floor. The HVT doesn’t know your faces.

 

“Fitz, Mack I need the ICER formula in a small syringe that won’t be detectable by security and Agent Morse can dispense quickly into the target.

 

“Skye and Ward you two are on over watch. If the target makes them shoot to wound. Under no circumstances should he see either of you or this mission is compromised do you understand?” The question was directed at both of them, but Coulson focused his attention Skye.

 

“Yes, Sir.” They said in unison.

 

“Any questions?” Coulson asked.

 

“I got one, who’s the target?” Mack spoke up.

 

Coulson sighed knowing he wasn’t going to get away with “that’s classified” if Mack brought it up.

 

“The target is Ian Quinn.” Skye’s eyes raised at that.

 

“Ian Quinn, eccentric billionaire Ian Quinn? The same Ian Quinn that’s too good to hire ‘lowly mercenary’ for security detail once in a while.” Hunter prattled off bitterly.

 

“The same.” Coulson answered with the hint of a smile on a face.

 

Ward’s eyes moved to Skye. She was standing there blank faced and shoulders rigid, the same stance he always had when getting orders. He didn’t bother thinking on how Skye was dealing with Quinn being the target, he was more concerned with the stone-like face she had plastered on to hide her obvious discomfort with the mission.

 

“If there’s nothing else, you have thirty minutes to prep for takeoff. I’ll see all of you on the BUS.” Coulson adjourned.

 

Skye hung back in the room as everyone filed out. Ward stayed in the corner with his arms crossed and a lost look on his face. It crossed Skye’s mind that aside from Coulson’s office and Vault D, Ward hadn’t seen much of the PLAYGROUND.

 

Skye started disconnecting the monitors from the main hub and looked at the photo of Ian Quinn. It was recent, that much she could tell. He was wearing one of his crisp designer suits and holding a champagne glass in a room full of business people.

 

Ward kept his eyes trained on Skye. He made note of her tensed shoulders and pursed lips. She was nervous. Something that Agents weren’t allowed to broadcast during a briefing and sure as hell not on missions. It was a good way to die.

 

He looked at the photo of Quinn with disgust. That piece of shit shot Skye and left her for dead. Ward wasn’t _good,_ but he wasn’t so much of a bastard he would leave his enemy suffering, he would at least end it then and there.

 

“Are you OK?” Ward spoke up haphazardly.

 

“I’m fine.” Skye spoke tensely. She shut down the files and walked out of the room making her way to the armory to gear up.

 

\--

 

The Team had geared up and were mission ready. May was flying the BUS over Washington making the way to Seattle. Fitz, Simmons, and Mack were in the cargo hold making the ICER variation Coulson requested while Morse and Hunter were checking their weapons.

 

Skye was sitting on a chair in the lounge checking and rechecking the ammo in her guns while looking over the hardcopies of the mission briefing.

 

Ward was sat not too far from her and was busy mapping out their vantage point and going over the variables. As it stood, if Quinn made the newbies and spotted Skye or Ward, the best exit plan was to make for the back of the rooftop they were on, hop over to the next. That building was apparently an industrial center and should have a lot of moving bodies, making it easy to blend in and disappear.

 

Ward’s planning was interrupted by the clank of a bullet on the coffee table followed by a low curse. He looked up to see Skye picking up the bullet and try to put it back in the magazine. Her fingers were shaking and she was chewing on her bottom lip.

 

There was this faraway look in Skye’s eyes that told Ward she wasn’t thinking about loading the magazine. It reminded him of when she would be working on her laptop before a mission. It was what she used to ease her nerves.

 

“Everything alright?” He asked quietly. She wasn’t in a mood to talk and he understood why.

 

“It’s- I just, are we _really_ going after Quinn?” Skye asked with disbelief etched into her features.

 

“That’s what the orders are. What do you think we’re after?” Ward pushed.

 

“I don’t know, but why would Coulson have me on a mission dealing with the guy that shot me. Twice.” Skye’s eyes had narrowed as the words left her lips.

 

“Why would he have the double agent sitting on his plane with a gun in his reach?” Ward shot back throwing his eyes to the pistol he kept near the map.

 

Skye nodded at that and stood. She walked over to the seat Ward was in and sat on the arm. Ward leaned back to look at her and she took the chance to slouch into his lap and rest her head against his bicep.

 

“This is why.” Skye told him simply as her hand unconsciously fisted the front of his shirt.

 

Ward’s fingers started threading themselves through her hair and Ward released a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding. How bad were things while he was locked up?

 

Skye closed her eyes and huddled into Ward’s chest attempting to just forget what they were doing. Coulson wanted information from the man that shot her! It didn’t make any sense, everyone hated him.

 

But Skye was a good soldier, she wasn’t going to speak about matters she had no say in, not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm hoping that Ward and Skye meet very soon when the show comes back because I'm interested in how Ward will take her having powers.


End file.
